Donald Trump told a Fox anchor that he expected Ukraine to make territorial concessions in any peace agreement his administration could potentially orchestrate between Kyiv and Moscow to bring the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine to an end.
In an interview that aired on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, the U.S. president indicated that under the terms of a deal authored by the White House, Russia would likely be allowed to retain territory it has occupied since February of 2022.
Trump spoke with Russia’s Vladimir Putin by phone for two hours on Thursday, then met the following day with Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House where all signs of the tension between the two men which had erupted at a meeting this spring had vanished.
On Sunday, Bartiromo asked Trump whether he’d gotten a sense from Putin during that conversation that he was “open to ending this war without taking significant property from Ukraine?”
Cutting in, Trump responded, “I did, I did.” But his answer shifted as the Fox host finished her question and asked whether Putin would return Ukrainian territory.
“Well, he’s gonna take something. I mean, they fought and, he, uh, he has a lot a lot of property. I mean, you know…he’s won certain property,” Trump said, before falsely quipping: “You know, we’re the only country that goes in, wins a war and then leaves.”
This is a breaking news report. More to follow…
